Tonight on lifetime Dance Moms continues with a new episode called, “3 Soloists, One Star.” On tonight’s episode, Abby pits Chloe, Nia and Kendall in head-to-head competition to see who can deliver character-driven solos in Maddie’s absence. Meanwhile, Christy’s jealousy puts her daughter’s place on the team in jeopardy.

On the last episode of Dance Moms with the Select Team gone for the week, the Elite Team needed to end their losing streak. This was to prove difficult because they were competing against the Candy Apples on their home turf and Cathy did whatever it took to ensure a win. Inspired from her time as a judge on Dancing with the Stars, Abby recruited former Candy Apple Gino to dance a duet with Maddie where the choreography called for her very first kiss. Did you watch the last episode of Dance Moms? If you missed it, we recapped it right here for you.

On tonight’s episode the ALDC heads to Shenandoah Valley, VA but with Maddie away filming a guest appearance on Ellen, Abby realizes that her #1 dancer’s career is taking off and she’ll need someone who can win in Maddie’s absence. Abby pits Chloe, Nia and Kendall head to head to see who can step up to the plate with character driven solos. Christy’s jealousy puts her daughter Sarah’s place on the team in dire jeopardy.

Tonight’s episode is going to be another drama packed evening, which you won’t want to miss. So be sure to tune in for our live coverage of Lifetime’s Dance Mom’s Season 4 Episode 23 – tonight at 9 PM EST! While you wait for our recap, hit the comments and let us know how excited you are about the new season of Dance Moms tonight!

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Abby calls the girls in and talks about beating the Crab Apples. She says Maddie is in LA at the Ellen Show doing the Sia video recreation. She says she wants other girls to show they can tell a story. Abby says they need to have this too. She says she made Maddie and that they’re all special or they wouldn’t be there. She asks what if Maddie was gone during the competition and says she can bring someone in. Sarah is there as a guest and says as long as her mom behaves, she’ll give her a try.

They start with the pyramid. Maddie is at the bottom because she’s out then Chleo because she took a fall and Nia because her ballet was weak. Sarah she says is a beat behind and her mom chimes in. Mackenzie is next and Abby says she’s too short. Kendall is at the top and Abby says she took the piece very seriously. This week they are headed to Power Hosue Dance Competition for a musical theater piece called Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves.

Abby qualifies that tramps mean hobos, not sluts. She says there is a lead role that Maddie can’t have. She says the lead goes to who she feels earns it. There are also three solos and she says she need to find someone who can be a Maddie when Maddie is gone. Kendall gets a solo – contemporary lyrical – and tells her she needs to prove she’s more than just a pretty face.

The next solo goes to Nia. She says her routine is jazz with gymnatics called Underdog. The last solo goes to Chloe – it’s I Should Have Known – also contemporary lyrical. Christy pipes up and says Sarah is the only winner and deserves a solo and Abby tells her to keep it up. Abby pulls Sarah’s photo off the pyramid and Christy says it’s not fair. Jill says Christy is ruining her daughter’s chances.

Abby says they don’t have a problem with Sarah, just her. The girls get ready to dance while the mom’s head upstairs. The group routine is first. It’s a carnival routine that Abby envisions and says they need to be mysterious. Christy says Abby puts one kid on a pedestal. Christi says Abby is grooming Maddie for every opportunity that comes along and says any of the other girls would have killed the Sia video.

Christi says Abby got calls for students plural but only sent one. Christi watches and says it looks like Kendall may be the lead. Abby says Kendall is close to the top and hopes she lives up to it. The #DanceMoms talk about how Kendall also got an opportunity before but then Maddie came back and took it away. Abby tells them that Maddie is coming back tomorrow and if she’s better than them, will get the part. Abby tells Kendall will have no one to blame but herself.

Three days before the competition, Maddie is back from LA. She tells the girls that she performed live on Ellen. Maddie says Ellen talked to her and watched her rehearse twice. Maddie says she hopes she gets more opportunities like this. Abby tells Maddie that she’s going to use her to assist with choreographing the other solos and Christi thinks this is a ploy to get into the other girls’ heads.

Kendall is told her prop is a mirror – half her face will be beautiful, half a scar – and it will be called Not Just Another Pretty Face. Maddie demonstrates how to do it better. Christi is aggravated upstairs and wants Abby to stop comparing them and says she’s only building up Maddie. Melissa is annoyed and says that they’re just jealous.

Abby works with Chloe. Abby says Chloe has missed a lot of classes and now isn’t as good comparatively as she once was. Abby says she needs to get angry for this one. Nia is up next and is doing her Underdog routine. Abby says this routine shows what she does well and wants it to be edgy and attack the judges. She tells Nia to bark. Abby demonstrates and Nia is horrified.

Her mom is freaking out. Holly says she’s got to be kidding about the dog thing. She says unless you’re on Broadway, you don’t do a dog. Holly says jazz usually doesn’t went and jazz dog numbers usually don’t win. Melissa says if anyone can do it, Nia can. Abby tells Nia that Maddie could do it and says if you’re hired, you have to be willing to do anything.

They’re working on the group number and Christy is annoyed that Sarah is at the back. She says she’s going to keep her mouth shut so her daughter doesn’t get kicked out. Jill is annoyed and thinks that Maddie is there while their kids are at school learning routines because she’s home schooled. Melissa is annoyed and says that’s not how it happened. Melissa tells her that’s not true but turns out she did ask to learn it in her private session.

Abby says the girls have to embody their characaters. Jill says she’s pleased for Kendall and Christi is bugged because Chloe is not getting the big parts. Christi thinks Chloe’s routine is a dig at her and says she knows she can’t win against Kendal. Abby tells Chloe that Maddie has been there since 8:30 am and Chloe since 3 yet she’s the one who’s tired. Abby gives Nia a dog collar and her mom isn’t happy.

Holly says the collar is causing problems and one of the other girls tucks it into her leotard to try to help. Abby decides to keep Kendall as the group lead even though Maddie would knock it out of the park. It’s costume time and Jill is pleased. Abby says Sarah doesn’t have a costume because she wasn’t supposed to be in the group. Her mom is complaining (as usual) and asks Abby what is being done.

Abby tells her to pray to the FedEx guy. Her mom gets nasty and says it’s not fair and she’d better have a costume there. Abby is able to get her one and says it should show up, but if not, she can’t compete and it will be a learning experience. Christy says she’s not God and Abby says in that studio she is. Christy says the garbage needs taken out and that starts with Abby. Abby tells Sarah she’s done.

Sarah begs Abby to be in the number and Abby says she can go in the bus without her mom. Sarah is angry at her mom and crying. Christy says she can’t give her over since she’s home schooled and she’s had her since birth. She tells her daughter she can’t go. Melissa thinks Christy is holding her daughter back. Sarah is on the bus crying and Abby tells her she’s nine and can do it herself. She says to hang with the other kids. Sarah gets off the bus and Abby says she’s finished with her because of her mom.

early to beat the crowds so she can reblock the group routine. She works on the solos first. Christy says there is a lot of pressure. She shows Jill the costume and tells her not to try to squeeze into it. Kendall comes out in her costume and the scar looks incredible but Abby says it’s not enough and she has to be emotionally scarred as well.

Nia comes in with her dog makeup. Holly thinks this is ridiculous when Chloe has a gorgeous costume and she’s a dog. Chloe’s mom however complains that Kendall has a better one. Abby tells them today determines their future at the company. Abby talks about their performance issues and wonders who will come out on top today. The competition starts.

Nia is up first with her solo – Underdog – Abby thinks it’s a good, edgy piece. It is pretty fierce and Holly and Abby both smiles as they watch. Abby cheers loudly. The crowd gives her love. Holly says she was worried that Nia wouldn’t pull off the face, but says she did it and was fabulous. Chloe is up next. Her mom says her dancing is all she has since her costume and choreography aren’t too unique.

She does a nice job and seems technically spot on. Her jumps and falls are good. The applause is good. Jill says Chloe is always perfect and does what she does best. She says Kendall is doing Maddie’s solo and hopes she doesn’t choke under the pressure. Kendall comes out with her mirror. Jill says she has her work cut out for her and hopes she’ll prove to Abby she can do anything.

It looks great. The costume is perfect and her moves seem flawless. The crowd seems to love it. Jill worries if it was good enough to win. Abby has 30 minutes before group and is working with them and says they have to waste time reblocking because Christy got Sarah fired. Jill is worried that Kendall will lose her lead role and if they don’t win, it will seem like her daughter’s fault.

The group comes out for their number and Abby says it’s resting on Kendall’s shoulders. It’s a really visually appealing number. The girls seem spot on. The music is cool and different. They seem in sync. The littlest one is a bit off, but the older girls look perfect. The crowd cheers them off the stage. Abby says she thinks it was spell binding but wonders if they can win without Maddie in the lead.

It’s award times at the competition and Abby is hoping for a sweep of the solos. Fourth place goes to Nia. Her mom says she did the best with what she was given but it wasn’t competitive enough. Third goes to another company. Second goes to Chloe. Abby thinks she should have won first but says missing training is costing her. First place goes to Kendall! Jill is thrilled.

Kendall says it’s been a long time since she’s won a solo. Jill says she knew all along she could do it and doesn’t care that she didn’t look like Maddie out there. Now on to the group numbers. Second places goes to another school. First place goes to Abby’s crew. They are thrilled and go to get their awards. Abby says it beat the whole competition and that Kendall proved she could win in Maddie’s absence.

The moms talk about how Maddie always gets the best solos and Melissa is annoyed with them. Jill says she doesn’t want anyone saying it was an easy win because it was Maddie’s. They also says they’re glad not to have an interloper (aka Sarah) and that they proved they don’t need more than the core five. Abby comes in and tells Kendall that she didn’t let her down and that she took Maddie’s solo and won with it.

She tells Nia that she did well but other parts could have gone better. She says she has to put herself out there more. Abby tells Chloe she needs to see more fire from her. She says she works harder when she’s threatened and Abby says she may bring in some other girls next week. The moms aren’t happy. Abby tells them all she’ll see them Tuesday for pyramid and says it may be the five of them or maybe seven.